Yummy!

Melt-in-the-mouth, creamy Belgian chocolates. Absolutely Yummmmmm....
Nice way to kick-start Monday :-)


Thanks Sandhya! Thanks Bhuvana! (for the chocs, for the camera) :-)

Chhod Aaye Hum Woh Galiyaan

Aaj Purani Rahon Se
Koi Mujhe Aawaz Na De..

Moved to a new Raah. Literally! and into a new home. Home? Well, not exactly. At least not yet. It sure feels great to stay in the new place. The pros: Being much much closer to my sister (and my nephew, of course!!), my new room's orange. It's convenient for my sis/parents.

The cons: the cat chose to stay back. :-( The bougainvillea and hibiscus shrubs that had to be left behind. So many memories....sigh! It’s difficult to put it into words.

At the new house, I can't make out if it drizzles or rains moderately. :-( [Sheetz, counting on you to notify me] Also, it’s too cold in there!!! Aachoo!! [God bless me]

But changes are necessary and they make you look at things in a whole new perspective. Am sure this place also will feel like home. And am waiting for it.

p.s: akka, all the best!! Don't worry. You will definitely make things work smoothly - at work, at home.

Kinara

         naam gum jaayega.... chehara yeh badal jaayegaa

          meri aawaz hee pehchan hain.... gar yaad rahein

Sambrama

This was the name of the event celebrated in our office on November 10th on the occasion of Suvarna Karnataka - Karnataka’s 50^th year Rajyotsava. Must say it was a tremendous success.

To be frank, I was a little apprehensive about it at the beginning and steered away from it. Thought it would be like a pro-kannaDa and anti-non-local languages kind of an event. But then was forced to "volunteer" for the group song as they needed more head-count!!!!!

The practice sessions were good and I came to realize that it indeed was “Sambrama” :-) -celebrating our rich culture. There was no ill-will for other languages. In fact, non-KannaDigas were encouraged to participate and they did participate with equal enthusiasm.

I had also "volunteered" for entrance/stage flower decoration and flower decoration with two of my team-mates. :-) Thinking of what flowers to use and what patterns to make was indeed fun! We settled on a list of colorful flowers - Shaavantighe, Mallige, Marigold, Sugandharaaja, Kanakambara, Gulabi. Add to that BaaLe Kandhu and Maavina yele. (For the thorana and entrance). :-)

The D-Day started with the preparation, decorating the entrance, setting up the stage, last minute practice sessions. The posters prepared by colleagues were put on display. It had information on Karnataka’s places, diversities, poets et al.

By the time the event started at around 4.00, the decoration was done. It could have been better if there was a little more time. I personally felt the color combination came out well. The WPR (Work Place Resources) guys helped us a lot in making the arrangements.

The event started off with a very good rendition of a Ganapathy shloka and then came a few more songs and dance (all kannada folk/movie songs) and then we sang the NaaDageethe - "Jai Bhaaratha jananiya thanujaathe". It was a very happy and proud feeling to sing it with the entire audience giving due respect to it by standing (This song is our state anthem).

The chief guest was T.N Seetharam and he gave a very good speech on Kannada and what it takes to save our heritage, culture and about youngsters getting carried away by foreign-influences. He told a very good sentence, which when roughly translated to English is "Open doors for knowledge and windows for business". His speech was very well received by the audience.

There was a small session of "Samvaada" with him, with a few people asking him about his opinions on current affairs. He reciprocated very nicely. To sum it up, it was a very thought-provoking speech
The rest of the dances, dramas and a round of RasaPraSHne, followed. Hacchevu KannaDadha deepa, KolaaTa, Ghallu-ghallenutha..... beautifully choreographed and danced.

Our office band performed few folk songs. Some of them were Shravana Banthu NaaDige, KoDagana Koli Nungitha, Naanu KooLikeranga, Nityotsava, Yello Jogappa Ninna Aramane and the super-hit film song - HuTTidhare KannaDA naaDali huTTabeku :-) The show was an instant hit.

There was Karnataka delicacies served for dinner - Joladha Rotti, Husli, KoDbaLe, BisiBeLebaath, AmboDe, Mosaranna, HoLige, Dharwad PeDa. It was very very delicious. A deserving end to a lovely show!

Hats off to the organizers for providing us with such a lovely, gala event and making it a big success!!

Inspirations!

Some motivational quotes I have come across....

• At the core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled.

• "We are challenged daily, within each challenge is a growth gateway!" -Anon

• Never ever stop due to the hurdles that comes in your way,

As because if they have not stopped why should we stop for them.

• "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently" - Henry Ford

• "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar"-Helen Keller

• "Where all people think alike, no one thinks much" - Walter Lippman

• "We must accept finite disappointment,but we must never lose infinite hope"-Martin Luther King,Jr
  

• "Mighty things from small beginnings grow"-John Dryden

• "The delight we inspire in others has this enchanting peculiarity.That, unlike any other reflection, returns to us more radiant than ever." - Victor Hugo (from Les Miserables)

• If good things lasted forever, would we appreciate how precious they are?

• It's the small things in life that fill us with joy.

DeepawaLi

Diye jalte hain

Colorful Lights

Rise and Shine

Jaanapadha Jaatre BhaavaChitragaLu

The stage is all set!!

Dusk falls

One...Two..Three...Action!

Stalls at the jaatre Maradha BombegaLu



Bhaagyadha BaLegaara...

Over the weekend

I went out with my college gang (sans 2) on Saturday. We had already booked tickets for a Kannada movie - Aishwarya. Few of my friends wanted to watch it, so I tagged along even though I had watched it once before :-(( The ending of the movie is simply unbelievable!! We watched the movie amidst a continuous narration and fussing of Sheetz. The others liked it.

The plan after the movie was to go to the “Jaanapadha Jaatre” happening as part of the Suvarnotsava (50th Karnataka Rajyotsava) in front of Vidhana Soudha. The program was scheduled to start at 5.30, so we hung around Garuda Mall until then. Nars joined us there and after a rather sad lunch (veg sandwich - not grilled!) went to Scary House in the mall. I was all excited to go see it. Sheetz dropped out as she had had enough the first time :-)

Well, the Scary House is a passage you need to traverse with big Arrow marks showing the path. It is very dark inside with faint lights here and there. What makes it scary? The sudden noises and appearances of "ghosts" and floating skeletons with rolling eyes. At first I thought the effects were cool. There was even one Veerana (A Ramsey movie, I think) style Purana Haveli ka Darwaaza which was banging. The noise effects were very good. Towards the end a weird masked-waala bhoot suddenly got up from a khabr or something and advanced towards me. Thomp! Thomp! Thomp! Eiiikssssssssssssssss...I screamed :-) Then at the door a zombie like kid came in front of me (reminded me of the doll in Child's play) wielding a club or something. Phew! Thankfully I didn't have nightmares that night.

After having some chocolate-dipped wafers and cakes, we proceeded towards Vidhana Soudha picking up Sush on the way.

I really looked forward to watching the display of Karnataka's various dance forms and songs. The stage was attractive, but we couldn’t get a better close view. Had to settle for watching the show at quite a distance. There were food and handicraft stalls lined up and these were showcasing Karnataka's various districts. Hmm..let me re-collect what the food stalls had to offer. There was kajjaya, husli(very theeka and good), joLadha roTTi, masala dosa, chitranna, chaats too!! Tasted most of them. Oh! There was Kodagina kajjaaya :-), some Raagi HuriHittu and other stuff too.

Food aside, there were handicrafts stalls – wooden crafted god figurines and I guess one stall was displaying dolls and wooden artifacts of ChannapaTna. The wooden bangles were very pretty and I bought one.

The program started a bit late around 6.45 or so. There was Dollu KuNita, then some other dances including a very nice rendition of Challidharu Malligeya. Since we weren't getting a good view and it was getting late, we decided to leave after few more songs and dances. After another round of eating, we left.

The crowd-turnout was really huge despite the almost non-existent publicity the event had. It should have been showcased a little better. But it is a very good step taken to promote the culture and talent of people of various places in Karnataka other than Bangalore!! I personally feel it should be organized in all the districts and also outside Karnataka to promote tourism and also in spreading Karnataka's rich heritage.

Inside the Golden Temple

   
The different forms of Buddha                      Inside the temple

      
Pillar to Post                                Colorful Painting

Amidst Nature

Differnet Shades

View from near the Peak                      Jalala Jalala Jala Dhaare

Tala Cauvery                                               Misty